Sports

Emotional homecoming for Golden Gaels football coach

Pat Sheahan may not have lived in Brockville for more than 30 years, but a piece of his heart remains in the city.

The head coach of the Queen's Golden Gaels football team brought the Vanier Cup with him as the guest speaker for the Rotary Club luncheon at the Brockville Country Club on Monday afternoon.

The 53-year-old Sheahan grew up in Brockville, going to elementary school and high school at Brockville Collegiate before going on to become one of the top coaches in Canadian university football.

Sheahan rhymed off a lot of the old landmarks in Brockville, including a big maple tree in Hardy Park now that used to be second base in pickup baseball games when he was younger.

"That was my Brockville, the people I met, the friends I made. I was proud to have grown up here as an athlete," said Sheahan.

"I have never forgotten Brockville," said Sheahan, emotion creeping into his voice as he finished off his speech about the Golden Gaels' road to the Vanier Cup.

Sheahan named all of his coaches, some living and some now deceased, that coached him in minor sports and school sports, thanking them for contributing to the person and the coach that he become.

"You never realize what kind of impact you can have on a young person's life when you are a coach," said Sheahan.

Sheahan has been the head coach of Queen's for the past 10 years and a head coach in university football for 22 seasons this fall.

He's won numerous coaching awards, including being honoured as the national coach of the year in 2008.

Sheahan still remembers where it all started , from before his Brockville Collegiate days to tryouts with the powerhouse Edmonton Eskimos in the 1970's to his 30-year career as a football coach.

"This was really special, an opportunity to bring the national championship trophy back to my hometown, the place that helped make me the coach I am today," said Sheahan, who owns a 127-79-1 record as a head coach.

During the luncheon that was sponsored by the Rotary Club, the Chamber of Commerce and the Queen's Alumni Chapter of Brockville, Sheahan described the magical season that led to the Vanier Cup victory, 33-31 over Calgary.

The 2007 team was an emerging contender. The team in 2008 went unbeaten but then didn't make it out of the Ontario playoffs, a tremendous disappointment to the players and coaches.

The 2009 team was one that had all the parts coming together for a season where it won six games by four points or less.

In one of his first days back in his office after the emotional victory, a bus driver in Kingston opened the door of his vehicle and asked Sheahan if he was going to win again this fall.

Sheahan laughed at that question then, noting it took him 10 years to win that first one at Queen's.

Later, he explained that it was similar to growing up in Brockville in the winter, playing in the grocery store parking lots when the snowplows had created the mountains.

"You'd be on that snow mountain, with a couple of buddies, with people attacking you from all sides and trying to throw you off," said Sheahan.

"We realize that everybody we play (this season) is going to be looking to knock us off. We are the standard. Everybody is going to be looking to have their best games against us and and we will be up to the challenge," he p>With 30 of his former players having enjoyed pro careers, Sheahan is just as proud of the people his players have turned out to be.

He's also proud of the fact 10 players have gone on to medical school, 16 to law school, 18 into Masters programs and 12 into teacher's education programs.

"Winning requires you have to have winners on your team," said Sheahan.

Winning will not make him complacent. He just returned from his annual 10-day stint working with the British Columbia Lions of the CFL in his forts to become a better coach.

"When the day comes I don't have the energy or enthusiasm to improve, I'll just go into my athletic director and that will be it," said Sheahan. "You have to work at getting better at the game or you'll get passed by."

Meanwhile, Ontario University Athletics announced its revamped schedule on Monday in the wake of Waterloo's decision to suspend its football program for 2010 because of positive drug tests.

The new schedule sees Queen's opening its season Sept. 1 in Hamilton against the Mc- Master Marauders.

The Queen's bye -- each of the nine teams has one week off -- comes in Week No. 2 (Labour Day, Sept. 6). Originally, the Gaels were supposed to open the season Sept. 6 in Waterloo against the Warriors.

The rest of the Queen's schedule remains the same, starting with the home opener on Sept. 12 against the Windsor Lancers at Richardson Stadium.